《How to Write Stories People Will Love》3. Find Inspiration
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If you're ever stumped for ideas on what to write, there are two things I recommend.
A story that I recently finished was inspired by a random thought I had while walking the dogs. They were sniffing intently at a bush, and I thought to myself, "I wonder what it's like to smell things as well as they do?" My brain then followed that rabbit down a hole and a story began forming. (Incidentally, this story is now on Wattpad! Look for My Mother Runs With Wolves on my profile. Website users can click on the External Link.)
Encourage your brain to think random thoughts. In any direction.
What would it be like to live on the moon? How high could you jump?
Do alligators really survive in the sewer? What do they live on?
How much time did Richard Adams spend staring at rabbits when he wrote Watership Down? Did his friends think he was crazy?
If teleporters ever get invented, I wonder if it'll get sabotaged by the airline and automobile industries?
Encouraging your mind to wander to pointless places sometimes sparks an idea for a story. My brain is always doing this on its own (I occasionally document these random thoughts in "My Hamster Wheel Brain" blog) and I'm often accused of spacing out. Some of these random thoughts give me ideas, and I'll scribble these ideas into a file for later reference.
Wandering thoughts usually aren't enough to come up with a story plot. The way you flesh out an idea is by asking what ifs. I'll take my previous wandering examples and apply what ifs to them...
What if they started colonizing the moon, and I volunteered? Would any of my friends and family go with me? What if I was in a relationship? What would happen to that?
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What if these sewer alligators were actually robots created by a corporation to build something secret underground?
What if Richard Adams made his story about cats instead of rabbits? What might have changed?
What if teleporters do get invented, but big-money lobbies get laws to be passed that make them illegal? What if a small group of scientists keeps working on one anyway, what would they do with it? Would a black market teleportation industry spring up?
Now these wandering thoughts have more meat on them, more potential to turn into stories.
If your brain doesn't wander like mine does, there are other ways. The What If Game can be powerful. Take an existing fairy tale. Then what-if the heck out of it. Here's an example: Peter Pan.
What if Peter Pan was actually a girl? She could be Petra Pan. With Lost Girls instead of Lost Boys.
What if this was set in space? Maybe Peter Pan used a jet pack instead of fairy dust. Would Tinkerbell be an alien?
What if Captain Hook was Peter's father?
What if Peter Pan was like Mad Max, and the Lost Boys ran Thunderdome?
What if Peter somehow got old? (This has already been done, in that Robin Williams movie, Hook.)
What if Tinkerbell was big and ugly like a troll, instead of tiny, fluttery and cute?
As you can see, there are countless directions you can go in! Some of them may have been done already, but there are so many possibilities, that chances are good you'll find something original.
Maintain a file or notebook for all your ideas. No matter how dumb or tiny the idea might seem, write it down. You don't have to flesh it out. Just record what you have. Twice now, I've thought of nothing but a title. No clue what the plot was, or who the characters might be. Just a story title I thought was cool. I wrote them down and set it aside for several months.
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Then later, as I recorded other ideas, I would peruse my previous ideas just for fun. Often these previous ideas will stir something in my creative space, and something will take root. Months later, I now have a complete short story, called "Sell Fish", and an in-progress novel from those two disembodied story titles I once wrote down.
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The Typhoon’s Wife
A contractual marriage with her best friend's brother.
8 2909Life
To progress in the arts of the Gods, only life essance will do. But how much life are you willing to pay to advance?
8 150Chapter and Verse
Anu dreamed of escaping the mining town, running away to the city of Verse. With no skill for the sword, and absolutely no talent in magic, she set about learning to forge magical circuits. The one thing she could do that would get her into the Academy. She was crushed to learn that it wasn’t enough. Without money, or connections, she would need to find a loop-hole in the entrance examinations, or worse, spend another four years trapped in the mountains. After scouring the regulations, she’d found a way to leave: she would have to contract a beast. Anu hadn’t much mana to offer, but with no other options she stormed into the forest nearby, hoping to contract a beast.
8 134The Ash Earth
Another chance at life? Hell Yeah! As the strongest Soul Cultivator, Rihan sat in the Pinnacle of the Martial World but was taken down by the Ancient Gods and his lackey. He was killed by the Ancient God and returned to his 11-year-old self. Given another chance to change his destiny and save his loved ones. With another hope to battle the Ancient God, he will once again set out with the vast knowledge accumulated from his previous life. Training faster than anyone else, and holding the knowledge from the distant future, he will set out to settle the enmities from his past lives as he climb to be the strongest again. "I can't believe I'm returned back to my 13-year-old self," Rihan's eye looks determined, "I will beyond the Ancient Gods and be a God-like being that dominates everything in this life!" *A new chapter will be released every 2 days.
8 198My Brothers' Enemy
''before we get out of that door, there are some rules that should be followed,'' Lucas said crossing his hands over his chest.''1.do not talk to Noah Knights,'' Logan said with a serious expression plastered on his face. who is even that?''2.do not glance at Noah Knights,'' Lucas carried on.''3.do not interfere with Noah Knights,'' Logan continued making me place both hands over my hip. what the hell is wrong with my brothers?!xxxlittle did Emma know that she is going to break these 3 deadly rules, and get pretty much interfered with that Noah Knights-her brothers' enemy.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX#3 in jealousy#4 in parties#2 in laugh
8 158loud poetry from a quiet girl
poetry by a person that's afraid of people.12/23/15- #1 in poetry
8 189